Re: Not Balsamorhiza (was Mystery Weed)


Tony & Moira Ryan, Wainuiomata, New Zealand
Climate ( US Zone 9). Annual averages:-
Minimum -2°C; Maximum 28°C Rainfall 2000mm
----- Original Message ----- From: "B. Garcia" <paroxytone@gmail.com> 



On 9/26/07, Sean A. O'Hara <sean@gimcw.org> wrote:

Hey Barry (et al.) -
I 'cross pollinated' this query to CA-Natives and got these responses, which I 
think are accurate IDs of the composite in your photo.


Hello, thank you for the ID Sean, and also thank you to those who gave
their guesses. I wanted to wait before saying anything to get other
opinions, and it appears that you've gotten the ID correct (pictures
of Heterotheca grandiflora look exactly like what I see.)


I'm kind of strange about plants others would call weeds, I mean, I
even let Oxalis pes-caprae grow during winter. I rather like the look
of Heterotheca grandiflora, and I think they'd be pretty enough massed
together. They do add a spot of brightness among the dead grasses of
summer. I've also noticed that even though non-native here, they don't
seem to turn into bullies (I've never seen them out in the chaparral).
Barry, when one thinks about it every plant we grow started out as a weed in the widest sense which somebody like enough to transfer to their home patch and encourage by cultivation. Those that responded well and made the grade we now cherish, but I am sure there is still room for introducing others to this select band . One definition of "weed" I liked was a plant you have not yet found a use for!
Not having ever encountered Heterotheca I did a bit of exploration on Google and found that H grandiflora has reached Haiwai'i and also Australia becoming an invasive weed in both cases. This of course often happens to any species, desirable or not, when it is introduced into a new habitat where its natural competitors and foes may be absent, so there is no check on its activities. 

It seems its common name is Telegraph plant. Does anybody know why?
It has however apparently not reached NZ, though surprisingly H villosa is listed by the local edition of Botanica as a garden plant. It seems to be more frost hardy than grandiflora. It has not apparently tended to become a pest here (so far!) Moira
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